


Bound

by PagetPaulson



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-05-14 01:19:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5724109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PagetPaulson/pseuds/PagetPaulson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twenty. Undergraduate. Sexually assaulted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Emily laughed as she quickly stole her keys back from the boy she had been seeing, ignoring the eyes of the few friends they had gone out with that night as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Don't tickle me," she warned, a fake scowl on her face as they continued through the parking lot.

Dominic leaned in and stole a quick peck from the younger girl. "Don't threaten me."

She let the frown quickly fall from her face when he blew a raspberry against her cheek, and she made her way out of his arms when they reached their cars.

"You two make me sick."

Emily's eyes crinkled as she waved to the other boy in their friend group. "Goodnight to you too, Derek."

Stepping forward, the college senior pressed a long kiss to the brunette's lips. "Are you sure I can't drive you home?"

"No, I have my car," she nodded. "And maybe you shouldn't be driving yourself." The senior had downed three beers, along with the rest of their friends, and she could clearly smell it on his breath. "Maybe get a ride with Derek?"

Quickly mulling it over in his head, Dominic nodded. "That's a good idea."

Emily smiled against the older boy's lips before pulling away and beeping her car open. "I'll call you when I get back to campus, ok? I have to go fill up my car first."

The college senior quickly pulled the sophomore back in by her wrists and brushed his nose against hers. "What if I fill you up instead?"

"Ew," she snorted, pushing the boy she had been reluctant to call her boyfriend away from her. "Ok, I have to go and then get back to study for my midterm in the morning. Meet for lunch?"

"Anything you want."

Emily made sure to watch the older boy get safely into their friend's car before she got herself into hers and turned up the heat. Checking herself in the rearview mirror, the college sophomore fixed her hair, setting her radio to her favorite station. It had been one of the best nights she'd had that month, with her grandfather dying and her parents and younger brother having to put their family dog down, and now she had to end it with studying for the test she had forgotten about until that week.

Pulling out of the parking spot, the ambassador's daughter made sure to check her mirrors and windows so she knew there were no other cars around her before she drove out onto the main street.

"Call dad," she spoke into the car, immediately hearing the radio turn off and her phone that had connected to the car start to ring.

"Hello darling. What are you doing up so late?"

Emily smiled at the sound of her father's voice. "Hey daddy. I'm heading back to campus," she sighed, coming to a stop behind a couple of cars. "I went out to dinner tonight, but I have a test in the morning."

She could hear her father's laughter over the car speaker. "What test this time? You already had your math and science, right?"

"Right," she nodded. "Tomorrow is my psychology midterm."

"I hope you do well, princess."

Emily smiled. Squinting as the lights down the road seemed to dim, the ambassador's daughter pulled into a gas station with only one other car parked in the lot, and she pulled into the space right beside it. "Ok daddy, I have to go. I'm going to fill up my car and then head back."

"Be careful, princess. You have your spray?"

Quickly riffling through her purse, the brunette grimaced. "Yeah," she lied, knowing she had forgot the can of mace on her dorm bed when she had changed purses. "I'll text you once I'm back at school."

"Alright. Goodnight, Emily."

"Night daddy," she smiled, shouldering her purse and getting herself out of her car. Noticing that there were a few people inside the gas station's shop, the ambassador's daughter took out her wallet so she could get to her credit card faster. She had noticed the sign saying to go into the shop and pay for your gas fill up, so feeling the cold start to seep through her leather jacket, Emily rushed for the convenient store door.

Hearing the bell ring as she entered the shop, Emily's eyes downcast to her wallet, letting the warmth of the store envelope her.

"Little lady?"

Emily felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up at the nickname. Looking up, the brunette noticed the man behind the counter, his hand stuck in his front pocket and a bandana over his bald head. "Hi," she nodded, slowly walking up to the counter. Her heels against the floor was the only sound in the convenient store, the eyes of the men around her making the brunette extremely uncomfortable. Noticing one of the men walking back toward the door and assuming he was leaving, Emily tried for a smile. "Can I get twenty dollars regular at pump three?"

He gave a lick to his thick lips with his tongue before taking the twenty year old's credit card.

Her ears perked at the sound of a lock flipping, and her head immediately spun to see the man who had been walking toward the door flipping the deadbolt. "That'll be it," she said quickly, waiting for the clerk to run her card through the machine.

"Sorry, our pumps aren't working."

Emily could feel her heart start pumping up within her ears as she felt the men start to grow closer to her. "Ok, that's fine."

When she reached over the counter to try and take her credit card back, the clerk held it up out of her reach.

"Keep it," she rushed out, turning to head for the door when the man who had flipped the lock came in front of her.

"Where you goin', girl?"

Emily gulped, trying her best to force her tears back at the way the older man was looking at her.

His yellow teeth raked across his bottom lip as he stared blatantly at her chest. "Little girls shouldn't be out all alone at night," he husked, his hand going to the college girl's arm.

The brunette forced her arm out of his hold and stumbled toward the door.

The man who had done his best to stay out of sight appeared in front of her with a gun, grinning when Emily immediately stopped in her tracks and he took the safety off.

"I need to go." Her voice sounded foreign to her own ears, her words shallow in her throat and frightened as one of the men behind her started to draw the blinds of the store.

"You ain't going anywhere."

Emily tried to sprint for the door, knocking the man with the gun out of her way but quickly being restrained by the man who had been sitting behind the counter. "Get off!" she cried, her tears finally falling as she struggled to get out of the strong man's grip. His hands went for her belt loops and he flipped her over, another man coming to hold down her wrists as she tried to break free. "Help!"

"Shut the fuck up," he growled, spitting on the college girl's chest before ripping her shirt off.

"HELP!"


	2. Chapter 2

Walking into the police station, the criminal attorney kept his eyes open to find his newest client. The poor girl's father had called him - thankfully a long time friend - and he had almost been in tears. If he wasn't as angry as he was, the lawyer was sure the older man would have been sobbing into the phone.

His hand tightened around his briefcase as he passed by mobs of officers. He had jumped out of bed at two in the morning and raced into the city. Where was his client?

"Aaron?"

Picking up his head, Aaron Hotchner felt his chest ache at the sight of his long time friend. He'd never seen him cry before. "Dave," he nodded, making his way through the desks and letting the older man pull him into a quick hug. "Where is she?"

The father of two sniffled before gesturing toward the back of the precinct. "We took her for a rape kit and brought her back here. She refused to stay in the hospital," he sighed. "She's giving her statement to the police."

"Dave, I'm so sorry."

Shaking his head, the older man found himself almost scowling at his friend. If he had been able to get to the men that had hurt his daughter, Aaron knew none of them would be alive.

"Dave," he said quietly, gaining the older man's attention once more. "Show me to her?" The attorney followed the father of two through the police station until they reached one of the last desks just near the vending machines and bathrooms. His eyes found a dark head with her hair cascading before her face, but he could tell by the way she was shaking that she was crying.

"Miss, can you describe the men who assaulted you?"

The college girl's head shot up at the question, her eyes bloodshot. "How many times do I have to do this?" she husked, her voice shaking as she did her best to stop her crying. "They were tall and had black hair," she shrugged. "I think two of them were Mexican."

The police officer looked to the notes he already had on the notepad in front of him. "But were there any specifics you can tell us? Birth marks? Scars?"

"I'm sorry I didn't think to memorize their facial features while they were raping me," Emily spit out, her dark eyes glaring at the officer before her.

Quickly stepping in, Dave knelt before his daughter. "Darling?"

The twenty year old sniffled and threw her arms around the older man's shoulders, hugging him tight to her. "Daddy I want to go home."

"We have to go through a couple more things before we go home," her father whispered in her ear, smoothing down her curls. "I brought someone here for you."

Aaron took that as his cue to make his way around the officer's desk and set his briefcase down, his hand out for the college girl to take. "Aaron Hotchner," he said softly.

Emily pulled away from her father and sat back in the chair she had been given.

Noting the younger brunette beginning to curl back into herself, the attorney took his hand back and sat in the seat the officer had vacated. "Emily, I'm here to talk to you about your case. I'm your attorney."

The twenty year old girl was quick to make a face at the explanation. "What do you mean 'case'?"

"If the men that raped you are found, we will be pressing charges. I'm your attorney, so I will be the case's prosecutor."

Emily let her tears trail down her cheeks as she stared at the unfamiliar man. "Court?"

Dave stood and ran his hand over his daughter's head. "Sweetheart, if the men are found then we're heading to court to put them in jail."

Her head immediately started to shake halfway through her father's sentence, her body trembling as she felt herself start to cry once more. "No no!" she sobbed, her body jolting when her father tried to touch her and calm her down. "I don't want to see them, I don't want to."

"Emily, if I may," Aaron spoke quietly. He waited for her to calm herself down before he handed her the bottle of water sitting on the desk. "Emily, these men deserve the worst the justice system can give them. Did they take advantage of you?"

Emily's head shakily nodded.

"Did they force you into sex?"

Another nod.

"Did they rape you?"

The college sophomore let out a struggled sob as she nodded her head, her hand coming up to cover her gaping mouth.

Aaron nodded his head. "Then we're going to put them in jail." He stood, letting his friend and client's father kneel to take the sobbing girl into a hug. "Officer," he spoke up, making his way over to the man who had been interviewing Emily and taking the file they had been getting together. "Run me through what we have."


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning: Triggering rape flashbacks**

**...**

_Her tears were running down her cheeks and over the coarse hands of the man who was holding her down, one over her mouth and the other around her neck. She could feel the first assailant pounding into her as hard as he could - she was sure she was bleeding - and the more the twenty year old tried to struggle free from the strong grip of the three strangers made her body ache that much more_.

His pen dragging along the notepad page as he read the words of his client's statement, Aaron could feel his mouth drying out.

_They took turns; all three of them. They penetrated her anywhere they could. When one finally pulled out of her and stood to give one of her other rapists room to move in, she kicked her sore leg out to push him away and she crawled quickly toward the door._

_"Get her back here!"_

_Emily almost threw up on the convenient store floor as she was grabbed around the waist and her body slammed into the counter. "Get off!" she screamed, trying to kick the man behind her with her feet an inch off the ground._

_Pulling her hair back and biting hard into the ambassador's daughter's earlobe, the man who had locked her in grinned. "Baby," he laughed, slapping her hard across the face to shut her up, "if you keep screaming someone is gonna come by and ruin our fun."_

_Her arms were immediately pulled in front of her and slammed down on the countertop before she felt the man pushing her into the counter enter her again. Trying her best to scream for help and push herself out of their hold, Emily felt three fingers immediately shove themselves into her mouth to shut her up._

_"You look pretty like that," the man in the bandana laughed, spitting on the college girl's face._

"Sir?"

Aaron's head shot up from the paper to see his secretary standing before his desk. "Yes?" he croaked, his hand coming up to help him clear his throat. "Yes Sandy?"

The young woman tried for a smile, noticing her boss' wide eyes. "Water, sir?"

"Yes," the lawyer nodded immediately, watching his secretary set the glass down and fill it with a cold bottle from their floor's kitchen. "Thank you."

Finding the stiffness of the man she'd worked for for an entire year unsettling, Sandy's hands curled tighter around the water bottle she held. "Sir?" She took a step closer to his desk when he looked to her. "Can I do something for you? You seem, I don't know, flustered?"

Aaron gave a short nod of the head. "I'm going over a case," he said quickly, gesturing to the file in front of him. It had taken him almost an hour to get through the first page of his client's statement. It felt as if he were invading her personal privacy - looking through her memories. "Do you mind telling those who call that I am in a meeting and not to be disturbed?"

"Of course, sir."

Looking back down to the paper before him, the attorney did his best to focus. Meeting the young woman the day before - more like that morning - he had immediately grown a small fondness for her. She was so small and fragile, the poor girl barely able to look at him without flinching, and here he was having to go through her most personal memory. It didn't feel right.

_She bit down hard on the fingers in her mouth, finally able to take a breath when the man with the strange blue eyes pulled them from between her lips._

_"Fuck!"_

_Emily gasped in pain when the one who had been plowing into her from behind seemed to falter and his finger that had been clawing into the skin of her ass tore her and drew blood. Pulling her hands from the man with the bandana, the college girl elbowed the man inside of her with enough force to breaj her own bones, and she was shoved to the floor._

_"Get her back here!" the muscular one groaned, holding his side where the brunette's bony elbow stabbed him._

_Her hands gripped the entrance door's handle and pushed, forgetting momentarily the men had locked it before attacking her. "Help!" She heard them coming up behind her and her fingers slipped from the handle to do their best and flip the deadbolt._

_She felt someone's arms warp around her from behind the moment she laid eyes on a couple passing the station, and her grip around the door's handle tightened. "Help!" She brought her hand up and slammed against the glass of the door, the skin of her palm peeling as she almost broke through the glass. "Help me!"_

_They turned at the sound and caught the college girl's body being wrestled to the ground, and the woman quickly made her way to a telephone._


	4. Chapter 4

"Dad?"

_Her hands and feet were both firmly held in two of the men's hands, she realized as she tried to free herself from the chair. She sat on the man wearing the bandana, unable to move, her legs spread wide._

_"Can't handle me, baby?"_

_Emily's puffy eyes closed tight as she let him thrust into her. If it hadn't been for the knife against her back, she'd be kicking and screaming her way out of their hold._

_Pushing up into her, the clerk grinned, watching as the college girl try to stop herself from crying. "Pretty girl," he whispered, tracing the knife against the small of Emily's back before slapping his hand against her clit._

Emily's breathing grew panicked, her eyes slamming shut. "Daddy!"

Running into the room, the writer immediately fell to his daughter's side and held onto her hands. "Unclench, sweetheart," he whispered quickly, not wanting her nails to dig into the would she had on the palm of her hand. "Unclench."

Her body rocked violently as she tried to fight the flashback that had flooded her mind so unexpectedly.

Biting back his hesitation, the father of two gave a slap to his daughter's sweating cheek, watching as her eyes immediately shot open. "Emily? Can you hear me?"

Emily's body continued to tremble as she slowly shook her head. Her father smoothed down her hair as he tried to calm her, those big brown eyes unfocused.

"Look at me," he whispered quickly, forcing Emily's head to stay still between his hands. "Emilia, you look at me."

Feeling herself slowly come out of her nightmare, the college girl's teeth sunk deeply into her bottom lip. "Daddy," her hoarse voice whispered, her bandaged hand shaking as he tried to take it in his hold. "Daddy, make them stop."

Dave took his daughter into a bone crushing hug, feeling her shake in his hold. "You're ok, bella. You're ok."

Standing in the doorway, the fifteen year old of the house watched as his sister broke down in their father's arms.

"Michael," the ambassador called quietly, taking her son from the room. "Let your sister be."

Looking up to his mother, the high schooler watched as she tried to stop herself from crying. "Mom? What's going to happen to her?"

Elizabeth led her son from the study to the living room, standing him right before her. "Your sister is going to be ok." Even though the words came from her own mouth, she didn't know if she believed them. "We're going to find those men and we're going to put them in jail. Trust me."

"She cut her hand," the fifteen year old remarked. Two days before, his older sister had been making herself a sandwich and had a flashback so bad that her hand clenched around the knife that then sliced open the palm of her hand. Twenty stitches.

"She's going to be ok." Hearing the sadness in her own voice, she wasn't able to tell if she was convincing her son or herself.

Dave led his daughter into the living room with an arm around her back, a hand on her arm. "Let's get your coat," he said softly, leaving her by the couch to open the coat closet. "Aaron will be wondering where we are if we don't get there soon."

Emily's dark eyes looked up from her hand, a new dressing over her stitches. "My lawyer?"

Her father nodded. "We have a meeting in twenty minutes." He handed her the coat he knew she'd want, refusing to put it on for her. She had gone through something extremely traumatic but if he coddled the twenty year old she was sure to blow up at him. She was the independent, beautiful girl they had raised her to be.

Watching her daughter slowly slip her arms into the leather coat, the ambassador's neck strained. "Darling, have you spoken to Dominic?"

The twenty year old shrunk into herself at the comment. "Yeah," she whispered.

Elizabeth saw the sadness on her daughter's face and instantly regretted bringing up the conversation. The brunette had taken time off of school to process everything that had happened in the past week, and obviously the ambassador assumed that her daughter would have told the boy she was seeing about it. "How did that go?"

"Not well," Emily bit out, her eyes glaring at the older woman. "Can you not tell by my face and my voice that it didn't go well? God mom!"

Dave put his arm around his daughter's shoulders and escorted her out of the mansion, opening her car door for her. "Darling please," he said quietly, meeting her eyes as she sat in the passenger seat. "We're just trying to help."

The brown eyed girl kept her tears from falling as her father got in the driver's seat and steered them toward the city. "It doesn't help."

His daughter's voice was so quiet he barely heard it over the heat he had put on. "What?"

"It doesn't help," she said, her voice growing stronger. "Asking questions doesn't help." Her head shook as she felt her father's eyes on her. "Coddling me doesn't help, having me try and talk about it with you and mother doesn't help and watching me every moment like I'm going to break doesn't help. None of that helps."

Dave's sad eyes moved from the beautiful girl he had raised to the road, his hands tightening around the steering wheel. They had only been trying to help her, and so he didn't take Emily's words to heart. None of them knew how to deal with something so horrendous.

"Don't hate me, daddy."

Pulling in front of the police station a few minutes later, the writer took the car keys from the ignition and took his daughter's hand in hers. "Never would I hate you," he promised.

Emily's eyes watered. "What if I'm pregnant?"

Dave felt himself tense. The hospital's results for STDs had come back negative, and for some strange and thankful reason she hadn't torn, but the pregnancy results were still being processed. "Then we'll deal with it."

The twenty year old quickly wiped her eyes and followed her father into the police station, her hands shoved in her jacket pockets so no one would question her injury. "Why are we meeting him here?" she questioned, thanking her father with a small nod for holding the door open for her.

Before he was able to answer, the writer saw the younger man coming toward them. "Aaron."

The lawyer walked up to the pair and immediately shook the older man's hand. "Dave," he nodded, his eyes moving to the brunette before him. He kept his hands away from the young woman before him, giving her a gentle smile. "Emily. How are you?"

"The same," was her only response.

Aaron gave a short nod of the head. "If you two will follow me."

Emily's eyes darted around the police station, her heart racing at the police officers who seemed to stare at her as she passed, and she quickened her pace to stay on track with her father. "What are we doing here?" she asked her lawyer, watching as his head turned and his eyes met hers. She felt her throat close up at the look in his eyes.

"We may have found one of the culprits."

All of a sudden the twenty year old's feet grew heavy, her eyes on the door they approached. "Really?"

The lawyer led his clients into the viewing room, his hand close to the small of Emily's back, almost as if to protect her. "We need you to identify him."

Emily's eyes stung as she walked up to the window, watching as the officer inside the room brought in a few men.

"What happened to your hand?" Aaron could see the end of the bandage sticking out of her hiding place. "Did that happen during the rape?"

The brunette shoved her hand deeper into her coat pocket and shook her head. "Kitchen accident," she said quickly, denying the allegation. "What do I have to do?"

Noticing the immediate change of subject, Aaron made a mental note. "We're going to ask each one to step forward and say a sentence you mentioned was said during the incident. You tell us if any one of them match the man we're looking for."

Emily's eyes ran over each of the men that were brought into the room, her heart racing.

"You look pretty like that."

She recoiled at the words, her injured hand coming out to grab onto that of the lawyer.

Hiding his shock, Aaron slowly gestured to the window with his free hand. "Does he match?"

"No." The ivory girl's face grew red, knowing the other officers around were witnessing the same thing they were.

"You look pretty like that."

Emily closed her eyes, but shook her head. "No." Letting her eyes flutter back open, the brunette watched as the third man stepped forward. Her chest was heaving, her hands sweating and eyes blurring when the tears filled them.

It was as if the man on the other side of the mirror could see her, and she watched as his face turned into a sickening grin, his yellow teeth smiling directly at her. "You look pretty like that."

Her injured hand clenched violently around the lawyer's as she watched the police officer have to physically drag the rapist back against the wall.

"Emily?"

_Three fingers were forcefully shoved into her mouth._

_"You look pretty like that," the man grinned, watching as her pitiful eyes met his before he spit on her ivory skin._

Dave felt helpless, watching his daughter grip at the lawyer who stood beside her. The fear in her eyes was something he'd never seen before. "Emily?"

Her head shook, her bandage untangling as she tried to hold Aaron for support, her shoes slipping against the ground as she tried to back away from the window. "No!" The scream caught the attention of the nearby officers, and one immediately called for a medic. "NO!"


	5. Chapter 5

Fingering the sheet covering her body, the rape victim asked the nurse to leave her room once again. She had asked the polite woman to leave before, feeling uncomfortable with the unfamiliar presence near her, but she needed to refill her IV with more fluid to make sure she didn't dehydrate.

"Press that button on your bed if you need me," the woman smiled carefully, afraid to startle the college girl the way she had when she had first come into the room.

Emily slowly nodded her head. "Thank you." Her eyes followed the older woman out of the room before finding the clock on the wall opposite her bed.

Four hours ago she was at the police station with her father by her side, and now here she was in the hospital yet again. The hospital was cold and smelled unnaturally clean, and even though surrounded by hundreds of doctors and nurses, the twenty year old had never felt more alone.

"One Mississippi," she whispered to herself, her eyes falling shut and her head lying back against her pillow. She had learned when she was younger that if she was going through something too sad, boring or painful, the ambassador's daughter could count as many seconds as she could before starting in another language. The longest she had gone was seven hundred forty-nine seconds in four different languages. She could have gone through all seven languages she knew, but her mother had broken her trance by asking the then sixteen year old Emily to guide their dinner guests to the dining room.

Hearing the door open, Emily's eyes shot open. "Who's there?"

The lawyer head popped into the room, his eyes meeting those of the college girl. "May I come in?"

Emily let out a breath. Her gaze softening on the older man, the brown eyed girl gave a small nod of the head. "Yes," she said softly.

Closing the door behind him, the young lawyer made his way over to the hospital bed, careful not to startle his client. "How are you feeling?"

"Embarrassed," was her short reply.

Aaron placed his hands on the bar at the foot of Emily's bed. "Why?"

The twenty year old averted her eyes.

"Emily?"

Emily hesitated before shrugging her shoulders. "I fainted." Knowing her lawyer was waiting for more of an explanation, the college girl moved her hands from the edge of the sheet and clasped them in her lap. "I'm just bringing a lot of attention to myself lately."

Aaron's brow furrowed. "You realize that none of what has happened to you recently is your fault, don't you?"

The twenty year old's silence was a good enough answer for him.

"Emily, how could you think that? You fainted, that's not a big deal. You're going through a stressful time," he chided softly. "Your hand? You said that was an accident. And your rape?" He didn't notice how she flinched at the word as he continued. "How on Earth is it your fault that three men decided to take advantage of you?"

The brunette's head nodded vigorously at his words. "I get it," she whispered, her eyes stinging. "I get it, ok?"

He hadn't realized how loud his voice had grown or the look on his face that apparently frightened her. "Emily," the older man whispered, rounding the hospital bed and sitting in one of the visitor's chairs. "Can you look at me?"

Emily's eyes crinkled as she tried to stop her tears.

"Is it possible for you to look at me?"

The college girl did her best to moisten her dry lips with a tentative flick of her tongue, but her eyes moved nowhere but to the foot of her bed. "I didn't mean to make you mad," she whispered, almost to herself. "A lot of people keep making me think it's my fault."

Her lawyer frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Those men," she shrugged, shivering at the thought of their faces, "an officer I talked to. Even my school didn't seem to care."

Aaron's eyes hardened at the news. "What do you mean? What have these people said?"

Emily's head shook.

The lawyer's gaze fell to the hands of the young woman in the hospital bed and he watched as they gripped the sheet covering her. Taking a gentle leap of faith he leaned forward in his chair and set his hand just near the brunette's. "May I?"

Brown eyes shot up to those of the older man's. It had calmed her down as much as it could when she held his hand in the police station, so why wouldn't it help now? She nodded.

Emily let the older man weave their fingers together and lay their joined hands beside her on the mattress.

"Can you tell me what these people said to you to make you feel like it was your fault?"

Finally letting her eyes meet her lawyer's, the twenty year old bit hard into her bottom lip. "My school almost didn't let me take time off. They said it wasn't an emergency." Her eyes flickered over to the wall for a split second when she saw her lawyer's jaw clench. "The first officer who talked to me at the station started questioning me. The hospital had given me a change of clothes, and he kind of looked at me weird and asked if I was sure they had raped me." Her voice grew quiet and full of tears. "He said what I had on wouldn't warrant a rape."

Aaron felt his temper flare. "He said that?"

"He was fired," Emily said quickly, her eyes finding their way back to the older man's. "My dad told his chief and he was fired."

The lawyer did his best to roll his shoulders and let the tension leave his body. If something hadn't been done about the way the officer had treated his client, Aaron would have made sure he wouldn't work again.

"Aaron?"

Hearing his name on the college girl's lips, the lawyer looked up.

"Are you ok?" she asked, her hand squeezing his.

Aaron gave the younger woman a small smile before scooting his chair closer to the bed. "Your father told me you had a boyfriend who you were with the night of the attack?"

Emily gave a reluctant nod of the head. "Ex-boyfriend," the twenty year old said quietly. "But he wasn't with me exactly when it happened, we had gone to dinner before, so we don't need his testimony."

"I'm sorry to hear about your breakup." Watching as the victim's eyes averted from his once again, the lawyer felt his heart break for her. "Was it after you told him what happened?"

The twenty year old sniffled, immediately shaking her head. "I don't want to talk about it."

And Aaron completely understood. Out of the few sexual assault cases he had worked and the many his firm had prosecuted over the years, the lawyer had seen many of the victims get dumped by their significant others.

It was like they were no longer valuable, as if somehow they were property their lovers were throwing away.

"Well I have some news," he spoke up. "I heard your hand laceration got infected, so you'll be staying here for more time than expected." Once she had been rushed to the hospital for her fainting spell and the new cut on her head from her fall, the doctors had unwrapped her hand to see bacteria eating at the ivory girl's skin. "Because we've apprehended one of your attackers and the other two are still out there, we have security in the building."

Emily frowned. "In the hospital?"

"We need to make sure you're safe. With one of the gang members in jail, who knows what his friends will try and do to get you to keep quiet."

The college girl's heart stopped. "Gang?"

Aaron slowly nodded his head, his free hand coming up to run along Emily's arm. "A not so well known gang, there are only a few members, but their reputation tells us they won't fail to be violent."

"Are they going to come looking for me?"

"When your family is not here, I will be," he nodded. "And the officers I've entailed are outside your door and stationed all around the hospital. If one of them even try to enter the hospital, we'll have them in handcuffs." Noticing his client fall quiet, Aaron let his hand untangle from the twenty year old's, looking to the clock. "I called your family and they should be coming soon. I'll let you be."

Emily's eyes grew sad as the lawyer started to stand from his seat. "Will you stay with me?"

Aaron turned his head to look to the college girl.

"Until they get here, will you stay with me?"

He found himself pulling his chair closer to the hospital bed before he sat himself back down, and his hand found Emily's once again.


	6. Chapter 6

Aaron's eyes darted from window to window of the cab he was in to make sure he was getting close to the hospital. He had been going over his client's case for the last few days as the police searched for the two rapists that were trying to hide out of the line of sight, and he was headed to the hospital that day to see how Emily was coping.

"Five minutes, sir."

The lawyer hid his grimace at the stern tone of his driver, knowing he'd been getting annoying for asking every three minuets if they were getting any closer.

Emily had called him two nights prior after having a nightmare of the men who had raped her, and she immediately starting spitting out memories that he wasn't sure she'd just dreamed of or if they were really true. He'd written them all down, and some of what she'd said in her tired haze had matched up with what she had given the officers the night she was attacked, so he knew they needed to go over this new information.

"Sir? We're here."

Aaron gave a grateful grin and threw two twenties at the driver before getting out of the taxi.

"Aaron?"

Turning, the lawyer found his client's father before him. "Dave," he nodded, shaking the older man's hand. "How is she?"

The writer gave a shrug. "Better, I believe." Dave wrapped his arm around the teenager by his side and gestured to the lawyer before them. "Son, this is Aaron Hotchner. He's helping Emily's case," he nodded. "Aaron, this is my son Michael."

The fifteen year old shook Aaron's hand, his eyes that matched Emily's glaring up to the older man. "My sister talks about you."

"Well I am her lawyer," he nodded.

"She had a nightmare yesterday and called you," Michael accused. "Are you dating her?"

Dave grimaced. "Michael."

Aaron was quick to shake his head. "No Michael, I'm not." That would be the most unprofessional he'd ever been.

"Why don't we go on up?" the writer asked, leading his son and the lawyer into the hospital.

Aaron kept himself quiet as he walked behind the two, his briefcase held in the clasping left hand he felt beginning to sweat. He could only think of that precious, fragile college girl up a few flights in the hospital, and he wanted desperately to see if she was doing any better.

Lagging behind his son, Dave found himself walking beside the lawyer he had hired for his daughter's case. "Have you gotten any further?"

"Police are tracking down the other two rapists," the lawyer said quietly, not wanting to bring any attention to them from the passersby. "And we just got the story from the couple that walked by the gas station and called the police. We're getting closer." Following his client's father into the private hospital room, Aaron's eyes immediately found those of the college girl in her bed. "Hey."

Emily gave a small smile to the older man, watching her family file into the room. "Hi."

Noting the other woman standing near the bed, Aaron quickly made his way over and held out his hand. "Ambassador," he nodded. "How are you?"

"Better," she smiled. "How are you, Aaron?"

"Great. I've gotten some more information from the eye witnesses that will help our case."

Emily waited for the lawyer to round her hospital bed and set himself down in the chair beside her, and her hand quickly went out to take his. "Hi," she smiled, that sadness that had been hiding behind her brown eyes slowly disappearing.

Aaron gave her a gentle stare, his hand gripping hers. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," the college girl nodded, laughing lightly when she saw his trepidation. "I promise."

"How's the hand?"

The brunette picked up her other hand and showed him the new wrapping on it. "The medicine is working, but it's kind of painful."

Aaron frowned. "How so?"

"Have you ever had bacteria eating away at your skin?" the college sophomore asked with a twinkle in her eye, and she kept her laughter at bay when the lawyer meekly shook her head.

"I hate to break up the moment," the daughter said with a smile as she walked in, shaking hands with the college girl's parents, "but I have your test results and I knew that you would want to hear them."

Emily frowned. "What test?"

The doctor hesitated. "Pregnancy."

Aaron turned and watched as those doe eyes that had looked so hurt the first moment he saw them widened, and he could feel the twenty year old's pulse through her tight hold on his hand.

Emily could feel everyone's eyes on her as she gulped, her gaze never leaving the doctor's. She couldn't imagine carrying the baby of one of those men who had violated her, and seeing the doctor hesitate to even look down to the clipboard she held, the twenty year old felt her heart fall into her stomach. "Can you tell me?" she asked quietly, surprising everyone by staying as calm as she could. "Am I...?"

The blond haired woman gave a gentle smile to the college girl. "The test was negative."

She could barely feel her heartbeat as the room fell quiet. "I'm not pregnant?" she whispered, a watery laugh escaping her as her parents immediately took her fragile body into a hug. She grinned into her father's shoulder, her injured hand coming up to grip his shirt, her other squeezing Aaron's.

Michael sat at the foot of his sister's bed, hearing the doctor close the door on her way out. His eyes met those of the lawyer and he frowned. "So I'm not going to be an uncle?"

The twenty year old snorted, pulling away from her father and turning to look down to her little brother. "Sorry," she shrugged. "Not today." Thank God.

"Are you going back to school soon?"

Emily looked softly down to the teenager, her hand finally slipping from the lawyer's so she could fix her sheet. "Not right now," she spoke. "After this ends, I will." Although maybe it would be best to go to a different college entirely.

Michael frowned. "Why hasn't Dominic been here?"

Emily stiffened.

"Michael Anthony," the ambassador scolded, her worried eyes flickering over to her daughter. "Enough."

The twenty year old looked over to her mother. "No, it's fine." Feeling awkward under everyone's gazes, she tried for a smile. "Can you go and get me some coffee?" she asked, eyeing both her parents so they got the message.

Dave was quick to nod his head and lead his wife out of the room.

"Do you want me to leave?"

Emily looked to the lawyer by her side and gave a slow shake of the head. "Mike," she started, her eyes moving to his, "Dominic isn't my boyfriend anymore." She hesitated, knowing how important it was for the younger Prentiss to be involved in what the family was going through. "He broke up with me."

"Why?" he asked, frowning. "Because you were raped?"

The twenty year old shivered at the word that came from her brother's mouth. "Most likely, yes."

"Who does that? How can someone even think like that?" Michael's face reddened as he fumed, wanting to charge after the boy who'd broken his sister's heart. "What the fuck?"

"Hey," Emily scolded, her eyes hard on her brother.

"And now what, you're finding comfort in him?"

Emily almost winced at the words, looking to the man by her side who her brother was accusing. "What do you mean?"

Michael shook his head, standing from his spot on his sister's bed. "Whatever. I'm going to find dad."

The college sophomore watched as her little brother stormed out of the room, and she did her best to keep her eyes from watering. "Sorry about him," the brunette whispered to the man who had stayed silent throughout the entire encounter. "He can get pretty heated." Her eyes met those of the lawyer and she tried for a smile. "That Italian blood, you know?"

Aaron looked down to the victim's hand that he was desperate to take in his again. "I'm sorry about your boyfriend."

Emily huffed. "I dated him for maybe two months," the twenty year old shrugged. "I called him after it happened, and he called me back saying he was too busy with school to take the time out to help me."

The lawyer could have thrown his briefcase through the window with how angry her story was making him.

"He's an ass," Emily whispered, almost to herself. Looking to the older man, she smiled in spite of herself. "But let's look on the bright side, right? I have no STDs and no baby."

Aaron sent a comforting smile to the college student. "And you still look good with that bruise there."

Emily blushed. "Thanks."

"Do you mind if I go over a couple of things with you before your parents get back?" He opened up his briefcase and took out the newest addition to his file on Emily Prentiss. "Unless you'd feel more comfortable with them here."

"What is it?"

The lawyer held up the manila folder. "Witness testimony to the couple that called the cops."

Emily's eyes immediately went to the file, and she reached toward the man to take it. "I want to see."

"Do you want to wait until they get here?"

"No, I'm fine." She opened the file in her lap and scanned through the entirety of it, her hand slipping from the bed and back into the older man's hand.


	7. Chapter 7

"How many times do I have to give you the finger for you to get the hint that I don't need help?"

Aaron smiled at the twenty year old girl who sent him a smirk. Watching as she buttoned the last button of her shirt, the lawyer was thankful for the girl's ability to actually sit up and do things for herself. Even knowing very little about her, he was sure she was grateful for being able to do something on her own.

The college sophomore blushed, her head turning as she felt the older man's eyes on her. She had just gotten the news from her mother that she was able to leave the hospital that day, and just after the ambassador had left her with a bag of new clothes to wear out, her lawyer had stepped in.

"We have security for you."

Emily did her best to keep herself calm at the statement. Her family had done its best to keep her case quiet, but at her mother's press conference the day before a journalist surprised her with a question about how her daughter was doing in the hospital, and immediately the hospital was swarmed with journalists and news stations.

Aaron watched as the younger brunette stiffened as she sat herself back down on the hospital bed to get her shoes on. "Are you ok?"

"Better than I've been," she said with a chuckle. Putting her hand on the bed, Emily turned to meet the eyes of the first man she had trusted outside of her family after her rape. "Thank you for being here."

His smile made her stomach drop.

"Can you just shove that all in my bag?" Emily asked, gesturing to the medications the hospital had given her to take home.

Aaron got her bags as she slowly stood and slipped her jacket over her shoulders. "Are you ready?"

If she was to be honest with herself, the ambassador's daughter was scared shitless. She knew her lawyer had now found two of her three rapists and she was going to have to go with Aaron to the police station to identify the man they'd caught, and knowing what happened last time she was scared for her mental health. And with all the journalists and magazine editors wanting her statement, Emily was already tired of the entire ordeal.

"Emily?"

The brown eyed girl's head snapped up at the voice. "What?"

Aaron rounded the bed and laid a hand to her back. "I asked if you were ready." Dropping the twenty year old's bags onto the bed, the lawyer moved closer to his client and set her hair behind her ear so he could see her face. "Are you sure you're ok?"

Emily could barely hear the older man's words over her beating heart pounding in her ears. His hand never left her cheek, and she was sure he could see how she was blushing.

"We can always take you out the back."

Shaking her head, the brunette gave a small smile. "I'll be ok," she whispered, letting her lawyer lead her out the door and to the elevators.

Once alone in the elevator, except for her personal bodyguard who she hasn't seen since the 2012 terrorist attack against the embassy. Emily could feel her lawyer's gaze on her. "I promise I won't break," she spoke up, almost startling the older man.

Aaron gave an almost embarrassed smile.

"How does my bruise look?" she asked, sending a wink to her bodyguard before looking back to the man handling her case.

He knew exactly what she was doing. Deciding to gain the upper hand in this battle, Aaron brought his hand back up to her cheek and ran his thumb over the healing mark. He saw her eyes widen, his touch almost shocking her, and he smiled. "Better."

She didn't even have time to process as his hand brushed hers and the elevator doors slid open.

"Princess."

Emily's head spun at the sound of her father's voice, and she quickly made her way out of the steel box and let the older man wrap her up in his arms.

Ignoring the screams and camera flashes from outside the hospital's entrance, the writer pressed a long kiss to his daughter's dark hair. "Let's go," he nodded, his hand gripping hers and leading her out into the frenzy.

A band of five security guards surrounded the three as they exited the building, keeping away the swarms of news anchors who'd left the comfort of their studios to get Emily's answers and magazine photographers wanting her picture.

The twenty year old held tight onto her father's hand with her uninjured one, hating the claustrophobic feeling she was getting from all the commotion. But all of a sudden she felt Aaron's hand on her back, and immediately she felt calm.

Following her father over to the car, Emily's head popped up at the sound of a journalist screaming, the woman trying to break through the barrier her guards had created. Her eyes quickly left the middle aged woman and settled on a dark man standing on the street corner.

The third rapist.

"What's wrong?" Not knowing if the college student could hear him over the screams of the crowd, Aaron's gaze followed Emily's line of sight and watched as an unfamiliar man winked the twenty year old's way. "Who is that?"

Her heart raced, watching the dark man grabbing the bulge in his jeans and smirking before turning to walk away. "That's him," she rushed out, pointing down the street to show the officers surrounding her just where he'd been. "That's him, I'm sure."

Aaron almost shoved the college girl into the car as the guards raced down the street, feeling her cling to him as her father screamed at the driver to speed away.

Eyes darting to the window, Emily tried her best to find the officers and where they had raced off to.

"They'll get him."

She did her best to stop from shaking, leaning back into her father as her lawyer ran his hand over hers to calm her down. "What if they don't?" The tears made her voice grow thick, her hand gripping Aaron's as the car bolted down the street and toward the station.


	8. Chapter 8

Two officers dead.

Emily let her lawyer take her coffee from her hands to get her a new warm cup as she sat still in her seat. The officers who had chased after her third rapist were all in the hospital, two in the morgue. The three that had survived were all in critical condition, one with a broken collarbone and internal bleeding, another with a gunshot wound to the abdomen and the last with his head bashed in.

Their accidents were her fault.

Wherever her rapist had walked of to he'd met up with two more gang members, and when the officers turned the corner to run after him they were attacked.

"Emily?"

Feeling her father's hand running down her back, Emily looked up to her lawyer, taking the coffee from him.

The writer beside his daughter brushed her hair behind her ear with his free hand, feeling her stiff under his fingers as he brushed it down her back. "You're safe," he reminded her softly.

"They're dead because of me, daddy."

Aaron refrained himself from entering the conversation, the younger brunette's words making him mad.

"Principessa," Dave said, his brow furrowing, "how on Earth is it your fault?"

"They died chasing a man they don't even know because he has to do with me and my case," she said, her eyes meeting those of her father. "That's my fault."

Looking to the man his daughter had found so much comfort in, the victim's father raised his brow.

Aaron took the hint, immediately sitting across from the two at the conference room table. "Emily, do you remember when I told you your rape was not your fault?"

The intensity in her lawyer's eyes made Emily shiver.

"Your rape was not your fault, and the deaths of those officers is the exact same way. You did not commit those murders," he said strongly, but the older man made sure to keep his eyes soft. He cared to much about how the beautiful girl felt to come on too strong. "We're going to get him, and he won't be able to hurt anybody else."

Emily let her lips roll inward to moisten them before she stood. "I need some air," she breathed.

"Your bodyguard will go with you."

Frowning at her father's order, she let her eyes bolt to Aaron's.

He felt something strange hit his chest at the way her eyes softened on him, and his first instinct was to stand and follow her outside. "I'll go with you," he nodded, assuring to the college girl's father that he would keep her safe before they walked out the back of the police station. With a hand to her back, the lawyer led her outside, her bodyguard in front of both of them to prevent anyone who may have been hiding from attacking the ambassador's daughter.

"What are you thinking?"

Emily's eyes stung as she shook her head, her fingers running over her chin. "I'm scared," she admitted, ashamed of herself. "They're not going to find him."

Before the older man could open his mouth, the college student was shaking her head.

"He killed two innocent men who were trying to protect me," she whispered, tears falling from her eyes. "What if he tries to come after my family?" Eyes meeting the older man's, she felt her breath catch. What if he came after Aaron?

"We have protection for you." Aaron took the handkerchief his father had given him from his suit jacket's breast pocket and handed it to the young woman he was representing. "No one will hurt you."

Emily let out a breath. Leaning back against the brick building, she watched as her bodyguard continued to scope out the area.

"Emily."

Her brown eyed flickered over to the man she trusted, watching as he walked up to her.

"We're going to find him."

She didn't realize how much she was crying until Aaron reached for the handkerchief he gave her and dabbed her cheeks. "Even if we do find him, how are we supposed to prove it was them?"

"We have their DNA from the rape test," Aaron said. He was doing his best to stay patient. "We're going to match it to each and every one of them. We have witness statements."

"They barely saw those men."

"We have your statements," the lawyer tried.

Emily huffed, shaking her head as she pushed herself off of the wall. "I don't want to go through all of this and put everyone through all of this for nothing," she cried. "What if we can't catch him? What if the other two escape? Or what if we finally have them all in custody and we lose the case?"

Stepping forward, Aaron found himself cupping the younger brunette's wet cheeks to get her to stop rambling. "Emily," he breathed, noticing how her eyes jumped to his. "I promise we will win this. I can't promise you a lot, whether or not you'll find comfort at the end of this or if you'll end up going back to school, but what I can promise is that we will find him and he'll be found guilty."

The brown eyed girl felt his breath hit her lips because of how close he was to her, and she slowly let her hands come up to cover his.

"I'm going to protect," he said strongly.

She stepped on her toes and hesitantly pressed her lips to his, crying into the kiss when Aaron pulled her closer. He was calming her, tasting her tears.

"Aaron," she whispered as finally let her go. "I'm so scared."

"I know. We're all right here." Aaron wiped the rest of her tears. "We'll get them." Pulling her right to his chest he hugged her, his arms around her shoulders, his chin at the crown of her head, and he wondered how he was supposed to keep that promise.


	9. Chapter 9

"Ms. Prentiss, can you identify the men you say assaulted you?"

The brunette felt herself gulping as she felt the stares of the three men on her. It had taken over two months for a court date to finally be announced for her case. The third man was finally caught in an apartment down in East Harlem with two women, both who had both immediately picked up guns and tried to protect the man who had apparently been their pimp. The officers had shot twice at the women and wounded them, sending both to the hospital once a SWAT member caught Emily's third rapist after he'd jumped out the window and tried to flee down the fire escape.

Emily nodded her head. "Yes."

"Are they here in this room?" When Aaron watched his client nod, he took a step forward. "Can you please point these men out for me?"

Slowly lifting her hand, it all of a sudden felt as if it weighed the weight of her father's body, and pointed over to the three men sitting with their lawyers at the defense table.

Aaron did his best to send a comforting look to the distraught girl before turning to the jury. "Please take note that Emily Prentiss has identified Herbert Martinez, Matthew Phillips and Sidney Commers as her rapists."

Turning back to face the young woman, the Prentiss' lawyer clasped his hands before his stomach. "Ms. Prentiss, can you tell us about that night a few months ago?"

Emily felt herself grow stiff. "What about it, Mr. Hotchner?"

"Tell me how you ended up at that gas station."

Shifting in her seat, the twenty year old kept her eyes away from the three men staring holes into her head. "I was at dinner with my boyfriend at the time and a few of our friends. A few of them were drinking so they all were driven home by my friend Stephanie drove them back to campus."

"And were you on your way back to campus as well?" he asked her.

Emily nodded. "I saw that I was short on gas so I went to find a station before heading back to campus. I was on the phone with my dad as I got into the gas station parking lot and he asked if I had my mase with me."

Aaron watched as Emily's eyes fell to her lap.

"It was the only time I didn't have it," she almost cursed herself.

"Can you tell us why you didn't have the mase with you that day?"

Emily bit her lip. "I had switched purses right before dinner and must have left it on my bed."

Aaron took another step toward the young woman in the witness box. "After you hung up the phone with your father, you then went into the convenient store of the gas station?" After receiving a short confirmation, the lawyer gestured to the three men behind him. "Can you tell us about the first moments of your encounter with Martinez, Phillips and Commers?"

The twenty year old let herself take a deep breath before looking back to her lawyer. "I saw that I had to go inside and pay for the pump I was at before I could use it, so I walked inside. They all looked at me, and I felt scared."

"Why did you feel scared?"

Emily almost shrugged. "They're three men, and they're bigger than I am." Moving her dark hair behind her ears, the college student kept on. "I walked up to the counter and spoke to Mr. Phillips, asking to put money on the pump I parked my car in front of."

Aaron could see her growing more and more uncomfortable. "Can you tell the jury what happened next?"

The twenty year old felt the hairs on her arms stand up as she self consciously looked to the jury. Everyone was staring at her.

"Ms. Prentiss?"

Emily felt her mouth go dry. "He told me the pump was broken," she said quietly, "and he wouldn't give me my credit card back. I saw Mr. Commers go to the door and he started to lock it, so I tried to run."

Aaron felt his heart hurt at the tears entering her eyes. "Ms. Prentiss, can you tell us what happened next?"

"They tackled me to the floor." Her voice was so coarse, she could barely recognize it as hers. "I tried to scream so someone could hear me, but they started tearing off my clothes and covered my mouth."

"And then what happened?"

Emily could feel her tears well. "They raped me." Once her lawyer sat himself down, her ears perking as she listened to him speak to the jury and then tell the judge he was finished, the brown eyed girl watched as the defense attorney stood.

"Ms. Prentiss, may I call you Emily?"

The twenty year old felt herself almost shiver underneath the gaze of the lawyer. "I'd rather you didn't," she spoke truthfully.

He nodded. "Ms. Prentiss, you've identified my three clients as your rapists. Is that correct?"

Emily nodded back to the older man. "That's correct."

"Can you tell me how you recognize them?"

The brunette frowned. "I remember their faces."

The attorney made a motion to shrug his shoulders. "But if I remember correctly, in your report to the police you couldn't remember enough detail to have a sketch drawn."

Emily noticed Aaron stiffening in his seat. "I was in shock," she reminded the older man, "which lasted a couple of days."

He smiled. "Right." Turning back to face his clients, his hand waved to the three men. "So if you can now, Ms. Prentiss, tell me how you knew it was these three men who raped you."

The twenty year old woman shifted in her seat.

Aaron leaned forward in his seat, meeting the eyes of the younger woman in the witness stand. He could tell she was nervous, almost scared, and he tried to subtly nod his head to tell her it was alright.

"Mr. Phillips wore a bandana," she spoke quietly, "so I couldn't see if he had hair or not." Emily calmed herself before finally looking over to the familiar men. "But I remember the scar over his eye. Mr. Commers was heavier, and he had a chipped tooth that I saw when he tackled me to the ground."

When the college student seemed to freeze, the defense attorney took a step forward. "Ms. Prentiss? Are you still with us?"

Emily met the eyes of the man in the middle of the table, her stomach churning and hands clenching in the pale pink skirt of her dress.

_"Close your mouth!" he growled, slapping the brunette. "Quiet!"_

She could see him starting to smile at her and she reached for the tissues before her. "He was the first one to rape me." She made sure to look him directly in the eye as her teeth grit, her fingers picking at the tissue she held. "I remember him perfectly."

"And you consider your incident a rape?" He heard the outburst from the college student's family as he asked the question but quickly continued his assertion before the room could object. "Are you sure you didn't make an advance toward the men? Didn't invite them to have sex with you?"

Emily's angry tears fell down her cheeks. "I did not," she ground out.

"How can you be sure of that?"

"I was screaming," she stated furiously, hearing Aaron object to the questions as she spoke. "They forced themselves on me when I begged them not to. I was there for hours! They raped me!"

After another twenty minutes, Emily was allowed back to the table beside the man who had been helping her throughout her days. She made sure to sit on the side farthest from the table beside theirs, doing her best to stay out of her rapists' line of sight.

Her hand itched to reach for Aaron's underneath the table as the doctor from the hospital who had performed Emily's tests told the jury what they had gotten from her: no STDs, no pregnancy, but the men didn't use a single condom. There had been DNA evidence in her vagina, her rectum and would have been found in her mouth if her saliva hadn't gotten rid of it. After arresting all three men, the doctor was able to match it to each of them.

Now all they needed was the decision from the jury.


End file.
